Walter Connolly

Walter Connolly was an American actor who made almost fifty films between 1914 and 1939.

Connolly was a successful stage actor, with numerous Broadway plays in the 1920s and early 1930s to his credit. He had appeared in two silent films, The Marked Woman (1914) and A Soldier's Oath (1915), but his Hollywood film career really took off in the 1930s. His trademark role was that of the exasperated business tycoon or newspaperman, often as the father of the female lead character, as in It Happened One Night (1934) with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert; Broadway Bill (1934), supporting Warner Baxter and Myrna Loy; and Libeled Lady (1936) with William Powell and Loy again. Other notable roles included the worthless uncle of Paul Muni's character in The Good Earth (1937) and one of the two con men encountered by Mickey Rooney's Huckleberry Finn in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939).

He mostly played supporting roles, but occasionally starred, as Nero Wolfe in The League of Frightened Men (1937); in RKO's 1939 5th Ave Girl, opposite Ginger Rogers; and as the title character in The Great Victor Herbert (1939), his last film.

Connolly was married to actress Nedda Harrigan from 1923 to his death. They had one daughter, Ann (1924-2006).